MAY, Judge.
Anna Quimby appeals the dismissal of her wage claim against Becovic Management Group. As she assigned that claim to the Department of Labor, where it was resolved, we affirm.
Quimby left her employment with Becovic Management Group in May of 2008. On October 23, 2008, she made an "Application for Wage Claim" with the Indiana Department of Labor (DOL). (App. at 32.) Immediately above her signature, the form stated, "Pursuant to IC 22-2-9-5, I hereby assign to the Commissioner of Labor all my rights, title and interest in and to the above certified claim for processing in accordance with the provisions of IC 22-2-9-1, et seq." (Id.) Quimby claimed Becovic owed her $787.31 for hours she worked but for which she was not paid, and for vacation time she had accrued. The DOL investigated the claim and determined certain deductions were not properly made, and it directed Becovic to pay Quimby $590.39. Becovic sent Quimby a check for that amount dated April 20, 2009, and she cashed it.
On May 13, 2009, Quimby brought an action in the Marion Superior Court under the Wage Payment statute, Ind.Code § 22-2-2 et seq., alleging Becovic had not paid wages and commissions she had earned and for vacation time she had not used. After a hearing, the trial court
The trial court did not err in dismissing Quimby's action for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted, as she had assigned her claim and was no longer the real party in interest.
Claimants who proceed under the Wage Claim statute submit their claim to the DOL rather than filing a complaint with the trial court. E & L Rental Equipment, Inc. v. Bresland, 782 N.E.2d 1068, 1070 (Ind.Ct.App.2003) (citing St. Vincent Hosp. & Health Care Ctr., Inc. v. Steele, 766 N.E.2d 699, 705 (Ind.2002)). The Wage Claim statute, by its very language, applies to employees who have been separated from work by their employer and to employees whose work has been suspended as a result of an industrial dispute. Id.
The Wage Payment statute, by contrast, applies to current employees and those who voluntarily left employment. Id. The Wage Payment statute does not require a claimant to pursue an administrative remedy, so the trial court has subject matter jurisdiction over claims made under the Wage Payment statute. Id. In Bresland, we determined Bresland's claim should have been decided under the Wage Payment statute, rather than the Wage Claim statute, because Bresland voluntarily left his employment. Id.
Therefore, Quimby, who voluntarily left her employment, should have brought her claim in court under the Wage Payment statute.
In E & L Rental Equip., Inc. v. Gifford, 744 N.E.2d 1007, 1010 (Ind.Ct. App.2001), we affirmed the dismissal of Gifford's claim because he, like Quimby, assigned his claim to the Commissioner of Labor. As a result, Gifford was not the real party in interest to bring the action in the trial court. Id. The wage claim document Gifford signed and filed with the DOL contained the same language as did Quimby's: "I hereby assign to the Commissioner of Labor all my rights, title and interest in and to the above certified claim for processing" in accordance with Ind. Code § 22-2-9-1 et seq. Id. at 1011. We determined that language demonstrated Gifford's "intent to assign this claim clearly and unconditionally to the Commissioner of Labor," id., with the result that Gifford was not the real party in interest to bring the action in the trial court. Id. Under T.R. 12(B)(6), when the real party in interest does not ratify, substitute or join the action, the remedy for an action brought by a party other than the real party in interest is dismissal. Id. As Quimby directs us to nothing in the record to indicate the DOL ratified, substituted, or joined her action, we cannot say dismissal was error. We accordingly affirm the trial court.
Affirmed.
ROBB, C.J., and VAIDIK, J., concur.
Erie Ins. Co. v. George, 681 N.E.2d 183, 189-90 (Ind.1997).